Optimizing Undergraduate Nursing Education

It is a challenge to provide experiences for nursing students that allow them to experience a professional relationship with older adults in the home setting. Home health agencies are under pressure related to productivity demands and may not provide preceptored experiences for students. Nursing students may not know any older adults outside of the institutional setting and consequently may have many misconceptions about what is and is not normal aging. This article describes an undergraduate nursing class and the out-of-classroom assignments that increased student understanding of nursing practice in the home, the effects of the home environment on the care of older adults, and the experiences of older adults living in the community. This article has relevance to nurses because it is important that we participate in creative methods of teaching students to value older adults and how to care for them in the community.